Cooking and Preserving Blueberries

It's blueberry season! You can't beat fresh blueberries in any blueberry recipe. Not only are blueberries super delicious but they also have some great health benefits. Berries have the highest amount of anti-oxidants out of all fruits and blueberries are packed with them. Blueberries are great for brain health, the nervous system and have been said to improve memory, and eyesight. Even though they taste sweet blueberries are a low glycemic fruit which is great for anyone on a low glycemic diet. Blueberries are a good source of Vitamin K and Vitamin C which are both important for immune function.

Picking your own blueberries at an organic blueberry farm or picking wild blueberries is the best way to get the freshest berries. Blueberries in the grocery store have usually been trucked in from other areas so they are not as fresh. Blueberries freeze very well so it's a great idea to pick them while they are in their prime – July and August are best in the Northeast. This is a great tutorial on How To Freeze Blueberries for the best results. We have gone blueberry picking twice already this season and will definitely go at least once more to stock our freezer with lots of berries to use in smoothies, pancakes, muffins, and more as the year goes on. Blueberries can also be dried or canned to preserve them for months to come, read this post to learn how – Preserving and Cooking with Blueberries. Blueberries are not as sweet and very expensive when they are not in season so picking and freezing them now saves a lot of money and allows you to have the best blueberries!

There have been a lot of blueberry recipes coming out of my kitchen this week. Blueberry coconut milk yogurt is one of our favorite snacks. Follow my tutorial here Coconut Milk Yogurt in a Slow Cooker and use the fresh blueberries to flavor the yogurt once its fermented. We also made a few batches of blueberry muffins and put a bunch in the freezer to have on hand for a quick snack.

I have been experimenting with lots of blueberry recipes from around the web, here are some of the delicious recipes you can try too…